Evening Chronicle comment

Councils' pay rises worrying - While we agree councillors should be paid for giving time and effort to serve constituents, the fact more than £3 million a year is spent on North East councillors' allowances, excluding expenses, does seem excessive.

While we agree councillors should be paid for giving time and effort to serve constituents, the fact more than #3 million a year is spent on North East councillors' allowances, excluding expenses, does seem excessive.

According to our investigation last year, the region's councillors were paid an annual basic of at least #5,000, but many also received thousands for other duties.

This month Newcastle City Council gave the green light to a 3.5 per cent rise in basic pay to councillors, giving each member at least #7,462.

And Northumberland councillors receive a basic rate of #7,613, with 12 out of the 67 getting more than #20,000 each. It will not go unnoticed that these rises come as frontline council workers face overtime bans and pay freezes.